KEY POINTS:
Auckland hospitals are short of 160 doctors and need to shut core services "to keep people safe", according to the junior doctors union.
Dr Deborah Powell, head of the NZ Resident Doctors Association, plans to run public notices and write to GPs this week to alert patients that hospitals in Auckland, Counties Manukau and the North Shore are under pressure and to expect delays.
"Shutting down some services is absolutely mandatory if we are to keep people safe," Powell told the Herald on Sunday. "We need to warn the public."
Powell said management at three main DHBs were considering desperate measures to cope with the staff shortages. These include:
Moving acute patients from Waitakere Hospital to North Shore Hospital.
Giving vouchers to Counties Manukau patients to subsidise trips to private A & E clinics.
Sending sick children from outside Auckland to Wellington or Christchurch, rather than the overcrowded Starship Hospital.
Powell attacked the Auckland DHBs for ignoring the "worsening crisis" as 90 house officer and 70 registrar jobs were vacant across the hospitals - 25 per cent of all positions were empty.
However, DHB spokesman David Meates did not anticipate shutting down or limiting services.
He revealed the DHBs had met last week to discuss solutions, which could not be revealed publicly.
He said District Health Boards recognised the real pressures the workforce was under and were acting as quickly as they could.
"It is a nonsense to suggest DHBs have been sitting on their hands while the health system collapses," he said.
Two independent commissions were due to report back in March about retention and recruitment strategies and how to address issues affecting junior doctors.
"The union's response to date has been demanding more money without addressing the underlying issues," said Meates, adding doctor shortages was an international problem.
Powell said the emergency department at Middlemore Hospital was of "dire concern", running on half the number of registrars it should have. It was also down 17 medical and 18 surgical staff.
Dr Vanessa Thornton, the department head, acknowledged the shortage and said the hospital was monitoring the situation "day by day".
However, she said there were adequate staff to keep operating; staff from other departments within the hospital were assisting and working hard to ensure patients' safety.
Powell said this time of year usually had the highest staffing levels across the region with an intake of new graduates, so this meant the situation was of even more concern.
Hospitals were haemorrhaging staff to higher-paid positions as locums in New Zealand and full-time jobs in Australia, while women in their 30s were leaving to start families, said Powell.
